[Evening of the Same day](Minato's apartment)
Kushina, Shikaku,Inoichi and me are sitting in my apartment and the atmosphere is fairly tense. Mikoto didn't want to be involved in this matter so she didn't come and Choza was just confused. We didn't really want the poor guy to be in the middle of this shitfest. It's not like he is autistic or something but he is still the least mature of our group. Kushina is here to prevent the situation from escalating as she is the only one in the situation with an outside perspective.
The silence is tense. Kushina's face clearly indicates that she expects this to be a lecture type talk and nothing more as the emotional one was solved in the cafeteria but one look at Shikaku's face and I know that this talk will be as intense as the other one. Shikaku looks quite a lot paler than normal and has a guilty look on his face. Inoichi while still having the dark circles under his eyes looks noticeably happier but whenever his gaze rests on me or Shikaku, it becomes sharper. He looks like he is trying not to be angry at us which to be fair would require quite a bit of an effort on his part.
"Just talk about what happened! Only we four are here. No one is going to listen, dattebane"
And Kushina finally breaks the ice. I was waiting for this moment.
"So... I know I am primarily at fault here but I still don't know how the hell did this mess happen in the first place?"
And I am saying the truth. I know that this shit happened because of me and I am feeling guilty over my assholish behaviour but I didn't forbid Shikaku and Choza from interacting with Inoichi. So what the hell happened? Looks like Inoichi didn't expect me to say that. His expression rapidly shift between disbelief over what I said and confusion when it sets in that I am telling the truth as Shikaku is clearly not saying anything contrary to what I said.
Shikaku for the first time since entering my apartment opens his mouth and says," Heh... Firstly I am sorry Inoichi... I didn't know that you were becoming that alone. I am very...very sorry! Please...forgive me."
His voice seems shaky and it looks like he is barely holding back tears. His voice is very much sincere. I am feeling very uncomfortable here. The uncomfortable guilt only increases when I know that I am the one responsible for this mess. Really puts into perspective how much shit I was avoiding to make me feel self righteous. I was on the path to become a Xianxia protagonist if this would have continued. Mom and Dad taught me better than that and I would be better than the horrible person I was slowly becoming.
Inoichi looks even more startled. He is caught off guard by Shikaku's sincere plea for forgiveness but before he could reply to it-
"Wait wait! Shika I know that you are feeling bad but tell us what happened first dattebane." Kushina proves to be the voice of reason. Yet another thing which reminds me that Canon can go get fucked. Shika, Inoichi and me had nearly forgotten that this impromptu 'meeting' was being held to understand the reason for this shit.
Shikaku and Inoichi both get out of their funk a little and Shikaku then starts explaining," Since always...I have felt alone... Yeah Inoichi and Choza were there but they couldn't see things as I could... I was always the weird kid to others...So many...so many of my friends left me because I was weird... because I couldn't relate to them and then Minato came along...
At first he was that troublesome 'genius' kid and then our matches started... At first I thought that another one of the kids challenged me and wouldget upset over being thrashed in the match...would insult me and then go away but Minato came again...and again...and again... After sometime I started enjoying our matches and then Minato, you won...you bloody won from me... I was shocked and was even more befuddled when you asked me to be your friend..."
Shikaku steadies himself while I am shellshocked. How much of my friend do I actually know about? Heck I don't even know Shika's dream of the future! Fuck... I am a bad friend aren't I? I don't deserve my friends but I will work to prove that I deserve them...so that I can call myself a good friend and a person proudly...Shika finally steadies himself and starts talking again.
"Minato was the only one of my friends who could understand what I was talking about, what I actually liked and suddenly life became a lot more brighter... Somehow along the way, Minato became my best friend... Then...I noticed that Minato avoided you Inoichi. At first I thought of it as a weird coincidence but over time I knew that he was avoiding you but I didn't want to confront Minato about it as it could have been a personal matter...God I was an idiot...It's my fault, isn't it? I should-"
Shikaku stops talking when I actually deck him across the face. He looks incredibly shocked. My eyes are blazing with anger. Kushina for the first time since I have known her looks a little scared and excited? I must be hallucinating in rage. I look over to Shikaku.
"How dare you! How fucking dare you assume that it was your fault! I still don't know the full story but I know it was mine. Don't blame yourself you idiot!"
I shout whats on my mind. I won't let Shikaku be a self depreciating mess,damn it! I don't want my friend to be a self depreciating shit because of my mistakes.
Shikaku looks back at me,his mouth something between a snarl and a grimace and angrily says," But I was at fault! I should have talked to you. It would have been easy but I overcomplicated things! If I hadn't done that... If I hadn't just use my ...'intelligence', things would have turned out better but no I had to be the 'mature and intelligent' guy, didn't I? I just had to ruin everything didn't I?"
Shikaku sits back down and breathes heavily... I am just too stunned. I know the matter wouldn't have resolved peacefully as that wasn't the real reason why I avoided Inoichi. I can't even say that without blowing up my cover... Goddamnit! I inhale and exhale and try to calm myself down...
"It was both our faults Shikaku... I was at fault for avoiding Inoichi for such a mundane reason and you...were at fault for overcomplicating things a little. The problem is solved now... Don't be so guilty... You wouldn't be my lovable sarcastic friend with all that shitty self depreciation you know..."
Also it was clearly a fault of mine, you shouldn't feel guilty over that. You are just a child, a mature one but still a child. I shouldn't have let this happen. I shouldn't just have ignored everything else to live my 'happy life'.
Shikaku looks up to me and while I know that he is still feeling guilty, he looks better than before. I glance over to Kushina only to find her face showing that she has no idea what's going on. To be honest, I don't as well. I am just rolling with the punches as they come. Inoichi's face on the other hand is a total contrast of Kushina's face. His face indicates that he knows what is happening and why it's happening. He just looks tired with all this bullshit.
"Ok... I think I can accept that Minato but I still... believe I should have been better than that. After that, I avoided mentioning anything about Inoichi in front of you. Me and Choza met him sometimes but it wasn't as frequent as before. Inoichi saw that but he didn't mind.
All was going well...but then you started those pranks and all the other things we do, the free time I had left was becoming less and less and visits to Inoichi were becoming so as well... I don't want to degrade the situation further but... I would choose you over Inoichi everytime... I am sorry Inoichi...
It doesn't mean that I dislike you... On the contrary you are one of my closest friends but... you know... After a time, I started avoiding Inoichi as well because I couldn't stand giving him so less of my time and simultaneously behaving like everything was alright with him. It was very hard... After I started doing that... I ignored Inoichi again and again.
As Choza is mostly around me, he started doing so as well, he must have thought that you got new friends Inoichi... Around the last quarter of the previous year, Inoichi stopped trying to contact me and I thought that he finally found out new friends... I didn't know that you were in this state Inoichi...I am sorry. I am sorry. I am sorry..."
Shikaku finally broke down crying after that confession. I hugged him and parted his back as he started sobbing.That was a huge pool of misunderstanding and other fuckups... And all this happened because I was fucking afraid of a bloody child? Bloody hell...
The rest of the evening was spent in reassuring Shikaku that he wasn't completely at fault and apologizing to Inoichi. He was still angry at us both and rightfully so but he became our friend as well. I know I have a lot to make up for but I hope that Inoichi and I become good friends... Maybe it's a lot to ask for a guy who made a child's life hellish but I want to better than that and I want to be the guy who brings a smile on every child's face in Konoha.
A/N: And CUT! So yeah another short chapter but I think I wrote it a lot better than the previous one. Of course it's still not the best it could have been but I think I can improve my writing as I write more...
My writing speed is slowing because I have to actually think about stuff now. I didn't really expect this story to cross 50k words. Thought it would be another failure like my first one but this has progressed at a good rate. I don't want to ruin it by making stuff shitty. Of course, if you spot any bullshit plotholes, inform me. I will patch them up. Hope you all like the chapter.
If you all want to contribute to the story or just chat, join the discord server. Here's the link for my server: discord. gg /vMEhH3e2
I am also quite active in [USER=35828]The Dark Wolf Shiro/USER] 's server so you all can contact me there if you don't wanna join a noob's server. Here's the link for his server: discord. gg /wd3tUYWVCd
I go by 'Prophet of Destruction' in Shiro's server. Also read [USER=100152]RagingSmurfOO7/USER] 's Invictus. That was the inspiration for this story and it's a hell lotta better than mine.
Goodbye and stay tuned for the next chapter
